JP6266591B2 - Communication apparatus and method for searching for a predefined signature sequence - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method, system and apparatus for transmitting data in a mobile communication system.

  Mobile communication systems have evolved from GSM systems (Global System for Mobile communications) to 3G systems over the past decade, and now include not only circuit switched communications but also packet data communications. The third generation partnership project (3GPP) is developing a fourth generation mobile communication system called LTE (Long Term Evolution). In LTE, the core network part of the old mobile radio network architecture is developed. Components and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) on the uplink and radio access based on Single Carrier Frequency Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) Based on the merger of Ku, have evolved to form a more simplified architecture.

  Third and fourth generation mobile communication systems, such as systems based on 3GPP defined UMTS and LTE architectures, support a more advanced set of services than just the voice and messaging services provided by previous generation mobile communication systems. be able to.

  For example, with the improved air interface and enhanced data rate provided by the LTE system, the user is able to increase the mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing that would have previously only been available over a fixed line data connection. You can enjoy data rate applications. Therefore, there is a strong demand for 3rd and 4th generation network deployments, and the coverage areas of these networks, i.e. the geographical locations where the networks can be accessed, are expected to increase rapidly.

  The widespread deployment of anticipated third and fourth generation networks, rather than utilizing the high data rates available, instead of paralleling a class of devices and applications that utilize a robust wireless interface and an expanding coverage area Has brought about development. One such class of devices is the machine-type-communication (MTC) device that supports machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. Examples include so-called smart meters, which are installed, for example, in the customer's home and periodically pass information, ie data related to the consumption of public facilities such as customer gas, water, electricity etc., to the central MTC server. Send back to. Details regarding the characteristics of MTC type devices are described in corresponding standards such as, for example, ETSI TS122 368V10.530 (2011-7) / 3GPP TS22.368 version 10.5.0 Release 10) [2]. An MTC device may be considered in some respects as a device that can be supported by a relatively low bandwidth communication channel having a relatively low quality of service (QoS), for example, with respect to latency.

  While it may be advantageous for terminals such as MTC type terminals to utilize the wide coverage area provided by third or fourth generation mobile communication networks, currently, existing network configurations for MTC data communication There are several disadvantages associated with use. Minimizing power consumption and complexity is the driving factor behind all 3rd and 4th generation terminals, low cost, limited access to dedicated power sources, or cannot be economically developed This is especially true for MTC terminals due to the requirement for location. Therefore, it is required to reduce the power consumption of the MTC terminal.

  A technique incorporated in LTE to support the management of power consumption is a so-called discontinuous reception (DRX) mode. DRX allows the terminal to remain in sleep mode during the paging cycle with the network and thus save power. This is accomplished by extending the duration of the paging cycle to the device, and the device wakes up for the duration of a predetermined wake-up window after the sleep period to receive any paging information. This process helps to mitigate frequent synchronization and communication tasks with the terminal's network, and the reduced operational burden can result in reduced power consumption. Thus, the DRX capability included in LTE type systems allows the device to exit the power saving idle state and re-establish communication with the network as needed.

  Although DRX mode of operation can help reduce the power consumption of terminals that should be able to access the network only infrequently, this approach nevertheless has some drawbacks. First, the currently specified maximum DRX cycle is relatively short, only around 2.5 seconds. However, some types of terminals, such as MTC type devices, could try to communicate data much less frequently, so in some situations a longer potential inactivity period would be more appropriate It is expected that it should be possible. Second, when the terminal device starts up according to the conventional DRX mode of operation, the device must perform several steps before it can determine whether the network has data to communicate to the device.

  For example, when operating in conventional DRX mode and when the DRX timer expires (ie, when the device is “wake up” time), the device typically initiates the following steps to obtain user data: Will be needed.

  Step 1: Frame synchronization. The device searches for a synchronization signal to achieve frame synchronization.

  Step 2: Receive master information. The device determines a position of a master information block (MIB) in the frame structure, decodes the MIB, and determines a channel bandwidth and a system frame number (SFN).

  Step 3: Receive system information. Considering the SFN, the device determines the position of a system information block (SIB) in the frame structure, and decodes the SIB to obtain additional system information.

  Step 4: Receive a paging message. The device searches for paging information that should indicate the presence of user data for the device on the associated control channel (PDCCH).

  Thus, as part of each DRX cycle, the device will send out specific frames and subframes for paging messages from the network, the location of the paging message, and the DRX cycle of the device that is pre-negotiated between the device and the network. To check. When an associated paging message is received by the device, the device establishes a data connection with the network using established signaling and subsequently transmits / receives the associated data. However, as mentioned above, in order to be able to do this, the device first needs to perform various steps including synchronization with the network frame structure.

  In some cases, the device may not be required to perform all of the above steps every DRX cycle. For example, in a short DRX cycle, frame synchronization could in principle be maintained from one DRX cycle to the next with a sufficiently accurate timing. Furthermore, information such as MIB / SIB can in principle be stored in the device and assumed to be the same in different DRX cycles, so that some of the above four steps can be shortened. However, for relatively long DRX cycles, it may be necessary to reacquire this information for at least some DRX cycles, if not most.

  Since a device will generally perform the above steps (or a shortened version of the above steps) every DRX cycle, it will operate in DRX mode even during extended periods when there is no data to be communicated to the device. A considerable amount of power can still be needed.

  One existing low-power short-range ad hoc network protocol designed for low data rate applications is ZigBee (RTM). This is a protocol designed for use with mesh networks and has the ability to transfer messages between devices and sleep devices between active periods. To further preserve the node battery life, data transfer between the coordinator device and the receiving device is controlled primarily by the receiving device, not the coordinator device. The protocol for transferring data from the coordinator device to the receiving device depends on whether the ZigBee network is beacon enabled or non-beacon enabled. In a beacon-enabled network, the coordinator device indicates in a beacon that it wants to transfer data to the receiving device. The receiving device periodically wakes up from its sleep state, receives a beacon and uses it for synchronization, and then checks for the presence of an associated message from the coordinator device. If an associated message is found, the receiving device requests that the coordinator device send data. In a non-beacon enabled network, the receiving device periodically wakes up from the sleep state and requests pending data from the coordinator device. If there is pending data, the coordinator device acknowledges the request for transmission and then transmits the data. If there is no pending data, the coordinator notifies the device and the device responds with an acknowledgment. This protocol allows the device to sleep for a significant period of time, but allows several two-way transmissions between the device and the coordinator to establish communication with or without data to be communicated. Need to do. Furthermore, these modes of operation deviate significantly from established wireless communication principles and therefore should not be easily implemented in wireless communication systems such as LTE type networks.

  Some other types of networks that allow a device to enter a sleep period / power saving mode are those based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, such as WiFi. In these networks, devices can enter sleep mode and the network access point maintains a list of all devices that are currently sleeping. A beacon frame containing information regarding pending data of the sleeping device is then periodically transmitted by the access point. The sleeping device wakes up and checks this frame to see if there is pending data. If the data is pending, the device polls the access point and initiates communication with the access point. Communication between the device and the access point may also be re-established by notifying the access point to the access point that the device has been activated from the sleep period. This procedure allows the device to sleep for a period of time and thus save power, but the device still wakes up at a predefined time to check for beacon frames and then establishes a link with the network It is necessary to perform two-way communication several times. Therefore, the device needs to maintain synchronization with the network in order to utilize the power saving mode, and if the device goes out of the power saving mode, the device incurs a significant overhead. Further, as with ZigBee, these operational aspects of the scheme based on the IEEE 802.11 standard deviate significantly from the principles of established wireless communication, and thus in wireless communication systems such as LTE type networks. It should not be easy to implement.

  Thus, although there are several established power saving techniques for devices that should receive very small amounts of data infrequently, terminal devices that operate in wireless communication networks, eg, MTCs that operate in LTE type networks There remains a need to provide improved schemes for low power operation of types of devices.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a first type terminal. The second terminal device is a second type terminal device different from the first type, and at least one base station communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. , Configured to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner.

  According to some embodiments, the at least one base station communicates data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner for a period determined according to a predefined timing schedule. Composed.

  According to some embodiments, the at least one base station has data specific to the second terminal device narrower than the operating frequency range of the at least one base station and within the operating frequency range of the at least one base station. It is configured to communicate in an asynchronous manner using a certain predefined frequency range.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the second terminal device includes an identification indicator of the second terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the second terminal device includes user plane data for the second terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the second terminal device includes an encoding scheme indicator for user plane data for the second terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the second terminal device includes a time and / or frequency indication that user plane data for the second terminal device is transmitted by at least one base station.

  According to some embodiments, the at least one base station communicates data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner by transmitting the data in association with a predefined signature sequence. Configured as follows.

  According to some embodiments, the at least one base station transmits data specific to the second terminal device, and the predefined signature sequence includes a preamble portion, a midamble portion, a postamble portion, a pilot portion, and It is configured to transmit in a packet format that includes a portion selected from a group that includes interspersed pilot portions.

  According to some embodiments, the packet format further includes a header portion that includes an identification indicator of the second terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the packet format further includes a payload portion including user plane data of the second terminal.

  According to some embodiments, at least one base station asynchronously transmits data specific to another terminal device in association with the data specific to the other terminal in association with a predefined signature sequence. It is configured to communicate in a typical manner.

  According to some embodiments, at least one base station transmits data specific to another terminal device in association with the data specific to the other terminal in association with another predefined signature sequence. Is configured to communicate in an asynchronous manner.

  According to some embodiments, the predefined signature sequence is a predefined signature sequence for use by at least one base station for asynchronously communicating data with a second type of terminal device. One of the sets.

  According to some embodiments, the predefined signature sequence is one of a subset of the set of predefined signature sequences, and the base station asynchronously transmits data with the second terminal device. It is configured to select one of a subset of a set of predefined signature sequences used for communication.

  According to some embodiments, the second terminal device searches for transmissions from the at least one base station to identify a predefined signature sequence and the identified transmission of the predefined signature sequence Is configured to be associated with data specific to the second terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the second terminal device is configured to send acknowledgment signaling to the at least one base station after successful reception of data specific to the second terminal.

  According to some embodiments, at least one base station is configured to transmit a radio frame structure that includes a control region for control data of a first type of terminal device, wherein the at least one base station is , Configured to communicate with the second terminal device at times and frequencies outside the control region for the first type terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the second terminal device is transmitted to the frame structure transmitted by the at least one base station for the second terminal device to receive additional data synchronously. Includes instructions for initiating synchronization.

  According to some embodiments, the at least one base station is further configured to communicate data in a synchronous manner with the second terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the second type of terminal device is a machine type communication (MTC) terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the wireless communication system is approximately based on a third generation partnership project (3GPP) architecture.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device, the first terminal device comprising: The first terminal device is a second type terminal device different from the first type, and the method communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. And communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner.

  According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a base station for communicating data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type. The base station is configured to communicate data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a base station of a wireless communication system for communicating data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type Is provided, wherein the method communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner, and communicates data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner. including.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a terminal device is provided for receiving data from a base station in use in a wireless communication system, the terminal device providing data specific to the terminal device and data specific to the terminal device. Search for a radio frame transmitted by the base station in search of a predefined signature sequence transmitted by the base station in association with and from the radio frame transmitted by the base station based on the identification of the predefined signature sequence It is configured to receive data from the base station in an asynchronous manner by extracting data specific to the terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the terminal device is configured to search for a predefined signature sequence only for a period determined according to a predefined timing schedule.

  According to some embodiments, the terminal device is configured to enter sleep mode at a time outside the period in which the terminal device searches for a predefined signature sequence.

  According to some embodiments, the terminal device is configured to enter a sleep mode in response to receiving data specific to the terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the terminal device searches for a predefined signature sequence within a predefined frequency range that is narrower than and within the operating frequency range of the wireless communication system. Configured as follows.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the terminal device includes an identification indicator of the terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the terminal device includes user plane data for the terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the terminal device includes an encoding scheme indicator for user plane data for the terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the terminal device includes an indication of the time and / or frequency at which user plane data for the terminal device is transmitted by the base station.

  According to some embodiments, the terminal device includes data specific to the terminal device, and a predefined signature sequence includes a preamble portion, a midamble portion, a postamble portion, a pilot portion, and a scattered pilot portion. It is configured to receive in a packet format that includes a portion selected from the group.

  According to some embodiments, the packet format further includes a header portion that includes an identification of the terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the packet format further includes a payload portion that includes user plane data for the terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the predefined signature sequence is any one of a set of predefined signature sequences that the terminal device is configured to search.

  According to some embodiments, the terminal device is configured to send acknowledgment signaling to the base station after successful reception of data specific to the second terminal.

  According to some embodiments, the data specific to the terminal device is for the terminal device to initiate synchronization to the frame structure transmitted by the base station in order to receive the additional data in a synchronous manner. The terminal device is configured to initiate synchronization to the frame structure in response to receiving the instruction to initiate synchronization to the frame structure.

  According to some embodiments, the terminal device is further configured to receive data in a synchronous manner from the base station.

  According to some embodiments, the terminal device is a machine type communication (MTC) terminal device.

  According to some embodiments, the wireless communication system is approximately based on a third generation partnership project (3GPP) architecture.

  In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for operating a terminal device in a wireless communication system is provided, the method being defined by a base station of the wireless communication system associated with data specific to the terminal device. Searching the radio frame transmitted by the base station for a signature sequence and extracting data specific to the terminal device from the radio frame transmitted by the base station based on the identification of the predefined signature sequence; Receiving data specific to the terminal device in an asynchronous manner.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an integrated circuit for use in a terminal device for receiving data from a base station in use in a wireless communication system, the integrated circuit being in the terminal device. Search the radio frame transmitted by the base station for the predefined signature sequence transmitted by the base station in association with the data specific to the terminal device and identify the predefined signature sequence And a circuit for receiving data from the base station in an asynchronous manner by extracting data specific to the terminal device from the radio frame transmitted by the base station.

  It will be understood that the features and aspects of the invention described above with respect to the first and other aspects of the invention are equally applicable and may be combined as appropriate with each other aspect of the invention. Let's go.

  Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like parts are given corresponding reference numerals.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional mobile communication system. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional LTE downlink radio frame. It is the schematic which shows the conventional LTE synchronization and camp-on procedure. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating downlink data according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating portions of an LTE downlink radio frame according to some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating portions of an LTE downlink radio frame according to some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating portions of an LTE downlink radio frame according to some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating portions of an LTE downlink radio frame according to some embodiments of the present invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with particular reference to an example implementation in a wireless communication system based on the 3GPP LTE standard. However, it will be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention may also be implemented in wireless communication systems based on other standards having characteristics corresponding to those discussed below in the context of LTE type networks.

  FIG. 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basic functions of a mobile communication network / system 100 that operate in accordance with LTE principles and may be adapted to implement embodiments of the invention described further below. . The various elements of FIG. 1 and the mode of operation of each element are well known and are defined in relevant standards managed by the 3GPP (RTM) organization, and many books on this subject, such as Holma H. and Toskala A [11]. It will be appreciated that operational aspects of a communication system not specifically described below may be implemented according to any known technique, such as according to relevant standards.

  The network 100 includes a plurality of base stations 101 connected to the core network 102. Each base station provides a coverage area 103 (ie, a cell) within which data can be communicated with the terminal device 104. Data is transmitted from the base station 101 to the terminal device 104 in the coverage area 103 of each base station 101 via the radio downlink. Data is transmitted from the terminal device 104 to the base station 101 via the wireless uplink. The core network 102 routes data to and from the terminal device 104 via each base station 101, and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, and accounting. A terminal device may also be referred to as a device, terminal, mobile station, user equipment (UE), user terminal, mobile radio, LTE device, and so on. A base station may also be referred to as a transceiver station / NodeB / eNode B or the like.

  A mobile communication system, eg, a mobile communication system configured in accordance with 3GPP defined LTE architecture, has an orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) based interface (so-called OFDMA) on the radio downlink and single carrier frequency division multiple access on the radio uplink. A base interface (so-called SC-FDMA) is used. FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an OFDM-based LTE downlink radio frame 201. An LTE downlink radio frame is transmitted from an LTE base station (referred to as enhanced NodeB) and lasts 10 milliseconds.

  The downlink frame consists of 10 subframes 202, and each subframe 202 is composed of 2 slots 203. Each subframe includes a predetermined number of symbols transmitted over a 1 millisecond period. Each symbol includes a predetermined number of orthogonal subcarriers distributed over the bandwidth of the downlink radio carrier.

  The radio frame of FIG. 2 includes reference symbols 204 that are scattered throughout time and frequency, a synchronization signal 205 that is disposed over a central portion of the carrier bandwidth, and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH: physical broadcast channel (PCFICH), physical HARQ indication channel (PHICH), physical HARQ indicator channel, and physical HARQ indicator channel, which are arranged over the entire carrier bandwidth. PDCCH: physical downlink control channel Control region 207 including l), the physical downlink shared channel which is arranged over the entire system bandwidth (PDSCH: including physical downlink shared channel) various elements such as 208 (not represented to scale in FIG. 2).

  FIG. 2 also schematically shows some resource allocation examples 211, 212 for the two terminals UE1, UE2. For example, resource allocation 211 for the first terminal (UE1) spans a frequency range near the top of the carrier bandwidth in the fourth subframe, and resource allocation 212 for the second terminal (UE2). Spans the frequency range near the bottom of the carrier bandwidth in the seventh and eighth subframes.

  Reference symbols are uniformly distributed throughout the frame and are used for channel estimation, cell selection, handover, and the like.

  The synchronization signal is transmitted at the end of slot 1 and slot 11 of the frame, and includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS) 209 (shown schematically in FIG. 2 by hatching) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS: secondary). synchronization signal) (shown schematically in dark shading). As is conventional, synchronization signaling 209, 210 is used by the terminal device to achieve frame synchronization and to determine the physical layer cell identification information of the enhanced NodeB that transmits the downlink signal.

  The PBCH is an allocated resource in the second slot of each radio frame and is used to broadcast a master information block (MIB), which contains information about the downlink channel bandwidth.

  Control channel data is transmitted in the control region of the subframe that includes the first n symbols of the subframe, where n can vary from 1 to 3 symbols for channel bandwidths of 3 MHz and above, and for channel bandwidths of 1.4 MHz It can vary from 2 to 4 symbols. Data transmitted in the control region includes data transmitted on PDCCH, PCFICH, and PHICH. These channels transmit physical layer control information.

  The PDCCH includes control data indicating which subcarrier of the subframe is allocated to a specific LTE terminal. This may be referred to as physical layer control signaling / data. Therefore, the PDCCH data transmitted in the control region of the fourth subframe shown in FIG. 2 should indicate that UE1 has been assigned a block of resources indicated by reference numeral 211. And the PDCCH data transmitted in the control region of the eighth subframe should indicate that UE2 has been assigned each part of the block of resources indicated by reference numeral 212 for each subframe. Although resource allocation for only two exemplary devices is shown in FIG. 2, generally more than receiving data on more (if not all) available PDSCH resources. It will be appreciated that there will be a terminal device.

  The PCFICH includes control data indicating the size of the control region (ie, 1 to 3 symbols with a channel bandwidth of 3 MHz or more).

  The PHICH includes HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) data indicating whether previously transmitted uplink data has been successfully received by the network.

  Data transmitted to individual LTE terminals on the PDSCH may be transmitted in other resource elements of the subframe. In general, the PDSCH carries a combination of user plane data and non-physical layer control plane data (such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling and non-access layer (NAS) signaling). User plane data and non-physical layer control plane data carried on the PDSCH may be referred to as higher layer data (ie, data associated with layers higher than the physical layer).

  FIG. 3 illustrates an LTE “camp on” process, ie, a downlink transmission where a conventional LTE type terminal device (ie, a device compliant with the current LTE standard) is transmitted by a base station via a downlink channel. Fig. 6 illustrates a process followed to allow a device to decode. Using this process, the terminal can identify the portion of the transmission that includes system information about the cell, and thus can decode the configuration information about the cell.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in a conventional LTE camp-on procedure, a terminal first synchronizes with a radio frame transmitted by a base station using central band PSS and SSS (step 300 and step 301), and then , PBCH is decoded (step 302). When the terminal executes step 300, step 301, and step 302, it is synchronized with the base station and ready to start decoding other physical channels.

  Then, for each subframe, the terminal decodes the PCFICH distributed over the entire bandwidth of the carrier (step 303). The terminal then confirms the location of the PHICH (step 304) and decodes the PDCCH (step 305), in particular to identify system information transmissions and to identify the terminal's personal assignment permissions. The allocation permission is used by the terminal to search for system information and to search for terminal data on the PDSCH. Both system information and personal assignments are transmitted on the PDSCH and scheduled within the carrier bandwidth. The terminal may then decode the PDSCH containing system information or data transmitted for this terminal (step 306).

  As described above, a conventional LTE terminal device that wakes up from the DRX sleep period generally needs to perform steps corresponding to at least some of the steps shown in FIG. Furthermore, the terminal device may do this and currently there is no data to be transmitted to the terminal device (ie there is no resource allocation for the corresponding user plane data on the terminal device or PDCCH / PDSCH). Sometimes it just turns out. If there is no data to be received by the terminal when the terminal is activated, undertaking “activation” effectively represents a waste of resources of the terminal device, and in particular the available power of the terminal device. As mentioned above, potentially unwanted power consumption associated with activation from a DRX cycle when there is no data to be received can be particularly problematic for certain types of terminal devices, eg, machine type communication devices. However, the approach of FIG. 3 may be a preferred approach for other types of terminal devices, such as conventional terminal devices.

  To address this problem, some embodiments of the present invention propose ways to configure base stations of a wireless communication system to communicate with different types of terminal devices and in different ways. In particular, the base station communicates data specific to a first type of terminal device (eg, a conventional terminal device) in a conventional and synchronous manner (using the conventional synchronization procedure described above), but the second type Data specific to a type of second terminal device (eg, an MTC terminal device) may be configured to communicate in an asynchronous manner (ie, without using the conventional synchronization procedure described above).

  FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a wireless communication system 400 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Communication system 400 in this example is generally based on an LTE type architecture. Thus, many aspects of the operation of the communication system 400 are standard and well known and will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity. The operational aspects of the communication system 400 not specifically described herein may be implemented according to any known technique, such as according to the LTE standard.

  The communication system 400 includes a core network unit (evolved packet core) 401 coupled to a wireless network unit. The wireless network unit includes a base station (evolved Node B) 402, a first terminal device 403, and a second terminal device 405. Of course, it will be appreciated that in practice a wireless network portion may include multiple base stations serving a number of terminal devices across various communication cells. However, for simplicity, only one base station and two terminal devices are shown in FIG.

  Terminal devices 403, 405 are configured to communicate data to and from base station (transceiver base station) 402. The base station is further communicatively connected to a serving gateway, S-GW (serving gateway) (not shown) in the core network unit, and the S-GW is a terminal in the communication system 400 via the base station 402. Configured to perform routing and management of mobile communication services to devices. In order to maintain mobility management and connectivity, the core network unit 401 also includes a mobility management entity (not shown), which is a subscriber stored in a home subscriber server, HSS (home subscriber server). Based on the information, an evolved packet service (EPS) connection with terminal devices 403 and 405 operating in the communication system is managed. Other network components in the core network (also not shown for brevity) include policy charging and resource functions, policy charging and resource function (PCRF), and packet data network gateways, PDN-GW (packet data) network gateway), the PDN-GW provides a connection from the core network unit 401 to an external packet data network such as the Internet. As mentioned above, the operation of the various elements of the communication system 400 shown in FIG. 4 is generally conventional, apart from the portions that are modified to provide functionality in accordance with the embodiments of the invention discussed herein. Could be the street.

  In this example, it is assumed that the first terminal device 403 is a conventional smartphone-type terminal device that communicates with the base station 402. Therefore, as usual, the first terminal device 403 includes a transmission / reception unit 403a for transmission / reception of a wireless signal and a control unit 403b configured to control the smartphone 403. The controller 403b may comprise a processor unit appropriately configured / programmed to provide the desired functionality using conventional programming / configuration techniques for devices in a wireless communication system. The transceiver unit 403a and the control unit 403b are schematically illustrated in FIG. 4 as separate elements. However, it will be appreciated that the functionality of these parts may be provided in a wide variety of ways, for example, using a single suitably programmed integrated circuit. As will be appreciated, the smartphone 403 generally comprises various other elements associated with its operational functions.

  In this example, it is assumed that the second terminal device 405 is a machine type communication (MTC) terminal device that operates in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As described above, these types of terminal devices may typically be characterized as semi-autonomous or autonomous wireless communication terminals that communicate small amounts of data. Examples include so-called smart meters, which are installed, for example, in a customer's residence and store information related to the consumption of public equipment such as gas, water, electricity, etc. of the customer at a central MTC server. It can be sent back to periodically. An MTC terminal device may be considered in some respects as a terminal device that may be supported by a relatively low bandwidth communication channel having, for example, a relatively low quality of service (QoS) with respect to latency. These types of devices are not connected to a permanent power source and without regular human monitoring (ie, no terminal device "charges" when the terminal device power is low). Is expected to be deployed. Because of this, these types of devices can be significantly affected by the relatively power intensive procedure described above for activating a conventional terminal device from DRX sleep mode.

  Similar to the case of the smartphone 403, the MTC terminal device 405 includes a transmission / reception unit 405a for transmitting and receiving wireless signals, and a control unit 405b configured to control the MTC terminal device 405. The controller 405b includes a processor unit appropriately configured / programmed to provide the desired functionality described herein using conventional programming / configuration methods for devices in a wireless communication system. Also good. For example, the function of the control unit 405b may be provided by an integrated circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. The controller 405b may comprise various functional units associated with various functions that are to be performed according to the principles described herein, for example. The transmission / reception unit 405a and the control unit 405b are schematically illustrated as separate elements in FIG. 4 for easy representation. However, it will be appreciated that the functions of these units may be provided by a wide variety of means in accordance with established practices in the art, for example, using a single suitably programmed integrated circuit. Let's go. It will be appreciated that the MTC terminal device 405 generally comprises various other elements associated with the operational capabilities of the MTC terminal device 405 that are not shown here for simplicity (eg, The MTC terminal device 405 may further include a user interface and the like).

  The base station 402 includes a transmission / reception unit 402 a for transmitting and receiving wireless signals, and a control unit 402 b configured to control the base station 402. The controller 402b includes a processor unit that is appropriately configured / programmed to provide the desired functionality described herein using conventional programming / configuration methods for devices in a wireless communication system. Also good. The transmission / reception unit 402a and the control unit 402b are schematically shown as separate elements in FIG. 4 for easy representation. However, it will be appreciated that the functions of these units may be provided by a wide variety of means in accordance with established practices in the art, for example, using a single suitably programmed integrated circuit. Let's go. It will be appreciated that the base station 402 generally comprises various other elements associated with the operational functions of the base station 402.

  Thus, the base station 402 is configured to communicate data with the smartphone 403 over the first wireless communication link 404 and to communicate data with the MTC terminal device 405 over the second wireless communication link 406.

  Here, it is assumed that base station 402 is configured to communicate with smartphone 403 over first wireless communication link 404 in accordance with established principles of LTE-based communication.

  In order to communicate terminal device specific data between the base station 402 and a conventional smartphone terminal device 403, the smartphone 403 first synchronizes with the base station 402 according to the techniques described above. Base station 402 may then communicate data destined for smartphone 403 in a synchronous manner according to established techniques.

  In a conventional LTE system, an MTC terminal device typically needs to undertake synchronization and camp-on procedures similar to those for traditional smartphones to communicate device specific data with the base station. Is done. As mentioned above, this can be a problem in maintaining reserve power. Thus, embodiments of the present invention provide useful data without the same overhead that one type of terminal device, eg, an MTC terminal device, has with the overhead associated with traditional synchronization procedures associated with other types of terminal devices. Provides a way to enable reception. Further, according to some embodiments of the present invention, this affects the ability of other types of terminal devices (eg, legacy terminal devices operating in a conventional manner) to function without change in a communication system. Achieved not to reach.

  This is in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention a process for detecting and decoding conventional synchronization and control signaling before communicating data specific to a terminal device with a certain type of terminal device, such as an MTC terminal device. Achieved by avoiding. More specifically, according to some embodiments of the present invention, when a terminal device wakes up to receive data that would be pending from a base station after a period of inactivity, the terminal device Uses an alternative method that does not involve frame synchronization as described above.

  Therefore, in the wireless communication system 400 shown in FIG. 4, the MTC terminal device 405 is configured to switch between the sleep mode and the activation mode based on a predetermined timing schedule. This aspect of the wireless communication system may generally follow the same principles as conventional DRX schemes, but the maximum inactivity period is, for example, minutes, hours, or even a number greater than the period currently available for DRX. It is expected that it can be long for days. However, when activated according to a predefined timing schedule, instead of trying to synchronize to the frame structure transmitted by the base station according to conventional techniques, the MTC terminal device 405 according to embodiments of the present invention instead Initiates a search for a predefined signature sequence transmitted by the base station in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in association with terminal specific data such as user plane data for 405 and other data that is not general control signaling .

  According to this embodiment of the present invention, the base station 402 shown in FIG. 4 generates a predefined signature sequence specific to a terminal using a packet format as schematically shown in FIG. It is comprised so that it may transmit in association with the data. The packet 500 schematically represented in FIG. 5 includes three main parts: a preamble part 501, a header part 502, and a payload part 503. The packet itself may be encoded according to established principles for communicating data in a wireless communication system. In this exemplary embodiment, a relatively low order modulation scheme, such as QPSK, could be used to help improve reception capability across the base station's operating cell. However, other modulation schemes may be used in other embodiments. The preamble portion 501 of the packet 500 includes a predefined signature sequence, the header portion 502 includes an identification of the terminal device for which data specific to that terminal device will be transmitted in the subsequent payload portion 503, and the payload Portion 503 includes data specific to the terminal.

  Thus, the MTC terminal device 405 is configured to search for a signal received from the base station to identify the presence of a predefined signature sequence. Upon detecting the occurrence of a predefined signature sequence (preamble) 501 in the signal transmitted by the base station 402 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal device 405 subsequently decodes the subsequent header portion and indicates in the header portion. Based on the identification information of the terminal device (s) to be determined, it is determined whether the data is intended for the terminal device 405. The terminal device may be identified according to any established technique, for example, based on the terminal device's conventional wireless network identifier. The header portion 502 can be encoded using a pre-defined encoding scheme to assist in decoding without preceding signaling. If the terminal device identifies from the header portion that the packet 500 contains data addressed to the terminal device, the terminal device may subsequently decode and extract the relevant data from the payload portion 503. In some exemplary implementations, the payload portion could always be encoded according to a predefined scheme. In other implementations where the payload portion 503 may be different from time to time, eg, using different code rates, associated with the header portion to assist the terminal device to decode the corresponding payload portion 503. An indicator of the encoding method to be included may be included. If the terminal device determines from the header portion 502 that the payload data is not intended for the terminal device, the terminal device will follow the predefined timing schedule before returning to sleep mode. The search for other currencies in the predefined signature sequence 501 may continue over the activation period. Thus, when the base station 402 obtains data destined for the terminal device 405, the terminal device is activated and the data is received until the next (or later) period that is configured to search for a predefined signature sequence. Can be configured to buffer. When this period arrives, the base station 402 may be configured to transmit a packet having the format depicted in FIG. 5 to communicate data to the terminal device within the terminal device's known activation time frame. .

  Base station 402 may be located at any location within the frame structure used by base station 402 to communicate with other terminal devices in a conventional and synchronous manner, such as, for example, the frame structure schematically illustrated in FIG. May be configured to introduce a packet 500 at. However, if the base station introduces the packet 500 at a location that does not significantly interfere with this frame structure, the introduction is generally simpler. For example, the base station 402 is out of the area for control signaling associated with other terminal devices, and instead the base station is free to schedule as needed otherwise. It may be advantageous to introduce at times and frequencies that are within the region where In particular, the packet 500 (s) is scheduled by the base station in the region of the frame structure used for synchronously communicating with the conventional terminal device on the PDSCH, thereby causing the PSS, SSS, PBCH It may be advantageous to avoid interference with control signaling for other terminal devices, such as signaling associated with PDCCH, PCFICH, and / or PHICH. Thus, when the base station transmits a packet 500 for asynchronously communicating with a certain type of terminal device at a time and frequency corresponding to a region of PDSCH in a frame structure associated with communication with a conventional terminal device. In addition, the base station may avoid conventional terminal device scheduling at these times and frequencies.

  Thus, in a broad summary of some embodiments of the present invention, data for one type of terminal device is wireless that also supports synchronous communication for those types of terminal devices to other types of terminal devices. The communication network can communicate in an asynchronous manner. In particular, this may be done by communicating data specific to a particular terminal device in association with a predefined signature sequence transmitted by the base station, eg, a preamble, that the terminal device is configured to search. . Upon identifying the occurrence of a predefined signature sequence, the terminal device may subsequently decode the data transmitted by the base station in association with that signature sequence. Thus, the terminal device can receive data simply by detecting a predefined signature sequence in an asynchronous manner, thereby avoiding the process of synchronizing to the frame structure of the base station transmission.

  Within the context of the above general principles, there are many different means for implementing various aspects of a wireless communication system and / or base station and / or terminal device according to various embodiments of the invention, of which I will explain some of them.

  FIG. 6A schematically illustrates an example of a location of a packet 500 for asynchronously communicating with an MTC terminal device within a conventional LTE frame structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. The example frame structure shown in FIG. 6A is used by the base station to communicate synchronously with other terminal devices in a manner that would normally comply with established LTE standards. The range of the frame structure shown in FIG. 6A corresponds to a single subframe 1202. The conventional aspects of the frame 1202 will be understood from the corresponding conventional aspects of the subframe 202 of the commercial LTE frame structure depicted in FIG. In this example, a packet 500 for asynchronous communication occupies a contiguous area within a frame-structured time-frequency resource grid. The frequency range over which the packet 500 extends may be predefined and selected according to the immediate implementation (eg, how much data needs to be communicated for devices that operate asynchronously). For example, a width of 1.4 MHz could be used.

  The location of the packet 500 in frequency space may be determined, for example, according to a defined standard or by prior negotiation between a base station and a terminal device configured to operate according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, a frequency band within the entire carrier bandwidth for use in asynchronous communication according to embodiments of the present invention may be established during the initial camp-on procedure or by dedicated signaling. Thus, if the transmission of asynchronous communication is limited to a limited bandwidth within the total carrier bandwidth, the terminal device searching for a predetermined signature sequence only scans within a predetermined limited frequency range. It's okay. However, in other examples, packets carrying data to be transmitted asynchronously can be inserted into the frame structure at any frequency by the base station. In this case, a terminal device searching for a predefined signature sequence may search the entire frequency space. In some cases, the base station is configured to update the terminal device with respect to potential locations for future predefined signature sequence transmissions (eg, with respect to a particular frequency range), thereby simplifying the search process. Can be done. For example, this may be communicated in the header portion of a packet 500 of the type described above.

  The temporal position of the packing 500 can be arbitrarily selected by the base station. This is because the terminal device searching for the packet 500 is not synchronized to the frame structure, so when the packet is transmitted for an existing LTE frame structure used to communicate with other terminal devices, This is because there is no problem for the terminal device. However, the base station may be configured to insert asynchronous communications in a manner that minimizes the impact on communications with conventional LTE terminal devices within the existing frame structure.

  Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 6A, the packet 500 is inserted by the base station outside the time and frequency corresponding to the control region 1207 (PDCCH) associated with the LTE frame structure. In the example of FIG. 6A, the asynchronous communication packet 500 is inserted by the base station into a symbol that appears immediately after the control region 1207 in the existing LTE frame structure. Thus, the base station selects the selected location within the existing LTE frame structure that is outside the control region for communicating control data to these other devices in order to minimize the impact on other conventional devices. Is operable to synchronize packets. However, as described above, the terminal device searching for the packet 500 may not know that it has a specific synchronization to the frame structure. Rather, these terminal devices simply search for the presence of some predefined signature sequence somewhere in the signal transmitted by the base station. (The process of searching for predefined sequences may be performed according to any known technique, eg, using techniques similar to those currently used to identify PSS and SSS signaling.)

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the range of the asynchronous communication packet 500 in the LTE frame structure includes 1204 which is one of the conventional LTE reference symbols. In particular, the payload data portion 503 includes 1204 which is one of the reference symbols. In this case, instead of the reference symbol, the base station simply transmits data specific to the terminal device (s) receiving the packet (eg, based on the identification information in the header portion 502 described above). Just do it. This allows a conventional LTE device that expects a reference symbol to determine that an error has occurred in the transmission and react accordingly (eg, by ignoring the reference symbol and interpolating from other reference symbols). It will be. Alternatively, the base station may be configured to transmit reference symbols 1204 that appear normally in the payload data portion of the packet 500. In this case, the terminal device (s) that receive the packet 500 asynchronously could be configured to ignore this portion of the payload data. This can be done, for example, if the reference symbol included in the packet 500 is a predefined location in the payload data / packet, or a header portion to indicate which part of the payload data area 503 the terminal device should ignore. It may be based on ensuring that it appears at the location signaled to the terminal device at 502. In principle, the range of a packet may be sufficient to span multiple subframes. In this case, the packet overlaps the PDCCH region of at least one subframe. The terminal device may be provided with an indication of the location of overlapping PDCCH symbols to avoid the terminal device trying to decode these regions.

  Thus, as described above, a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, such as the MTC device 405 schematically represented in FIG. 4, starts from sleep mode and initiates a search for a predefined signature sequence. The search process may continue until a defined event, for example, the expiration of the startup time frame of the terminal device or the successful reception of device specific data. Having identified the signature sequence 501 transmitted from the base station, the MTC device 405 subsequently decodes the immediately following header portion 502. As described above, the header portion 502 is used for information regarding the identity of the terminal device with which the base station is trying to communicate device-specific data and data specific to the device in the subsequent payload portion 503. It may include information on the encoding scheme to be performed. If the terminal device determines from the header portion 502 that the payload data 503 is directed to the terminal device, the terminal device then decodes the subsequent payload portion 503 to extract the relevant data.

  In some cases, information specific to the device with which the base station is to communicate may be directed to only one terminal device, in which case the header portion 502 may include an identification indicator unique to that device. . In other situations, information specific to the terminal device may be specific to the class of terminal device. For example, information specific to the terminal device may include price update information for communicating to a plurality of MTC devices operating as smart meters in the consumer's home. In such cases, the header portion 502 may include a device group identifier, eg, a broadcast address, so that devices that are members of the group can identify that the packet is directed to those members. This allows simultaneous asynchronous communication between the base station and multiple devices. Further, in FIG. 6A, only one asynchronous communication packet 500 is shown for simplicity, but in another example where the base station communicates different data asynchronously to different terminal devices. It will be appreciated that multiple instances of an asynchronous communication packet of the type shown in FIG. 6A can be inserted into a single subframe.

  It will be appreciated that in some implementations, the predefined signature sequence itself may provide an associated identifier of the terminal device to which the data is directed. For example, each individual terminal device is associated with a predefined signature sequence of characteristics so that if the terminal device identifies the terminal device's signature sequence, it can be seen that subsequent data is directed to that terminal device. Can be. In practice, this is unlikely to be the optimal approach when there are a large number of terminal devices that should be able to receive data asynchronously. This is because it would be necessary to define a number of predefined signature sequences correspondingly. However, if terminal devices can be classified into a group (eg, all smart meters owned by a particular provider), a dedicated signature sequence can be used to address this group. This should avoid the need to include identification information in the header portion. Further, if the payload data is transmitted in association with a predefined signature sequence using a predefined encoding scheme, the terminal device decodes the payload data after identifying the predefined signature sequence. Therefore, the terminal device needs very little information. Therefore, the header part should not be used.

  FIGS. 6B, 6C, and 6D show examples of other locations of a packet 500 for asynchronously communicating with an MTC terminal device in a conventional LTE frame structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. These figures are similar to FIG. 6A described above and will be understood from the corresponding description of FIG. 6A.

  FIG. 6B differs from FIG. 6A in that it shows a packet 500 being transmitted in a different part of subframe 1207. In the example shown in FIG. 6B, it is schematically shown that the asynchronous communication packet 500 is inserted into the LTE frame by the base station at any time that is not synchronized with the existing LTE frame structure. While this approach is possible in principle, it can potentially complicate the scheduling requirements of the base station, so it may not be the preferred approach in practice.

  FIG. 6C differs from FIG. 6A in that the packet 500 is not transmitted in consecutive blocks. In the example shown in FIG. 6C, the predefined signature sequence (preamble portion) 501 and header portion 502 are broadcast at approximately the same location as shown in FIG. 6A. However, the payload portion 503 is transmitted at a time and frequency that is not contiguous with the header portion 502. The location of the payload portion 503 relative to the header portion 502 is indicated by the header portion 502 or may be predefined / pre-established. This approach provides greater flexibility as to where the base station can insert signaling associated with asynchronous communications, but at the cost of increased complexity.

  FIG. 6D differs from FIG. 6A in that the packet 500 is of a shorter duration and does not overlap with any reference symbols in the existing LTE frame structure, thereby simplifying the decoding process.

  There is data that the base station wants to communicate to the terminal device in an asynchronous manner, and the base station is in the sleep mode when the receiving terminal device is in sleep mode, for example, based on the previously defined / prenegotiated timing schedule It will be appreciated that if not, the base station should only insert a packet corresponding to packet 500 for asynchronous communication with the terminal device into the subframe. In an example where the base station knows the startup period of the counterpart terminal device that it wishes to communicate asynchronously with, the base station avoids sending data in the time near the opening / closing of the startup time frame of the terminal device. Can be configured as follows. This is to allow drift of the terminal device's clock relative to the base station that should be able to wake up the terminal device immediately before or after the base station understands when the wakeup time frame will appear.

  In some embodiments, the base station may not know the sleep / wake-up cycle of the destination terminal device that the base station wishes to communicate data asynchronously according to embodiments of the present invention. In this situation, the base station simply attempts to communicate data at the selected time and confirms from the terminal device to indicate whether the data has been successfully received, eg, based on existing HARQ technology. It may be configured to rely on response signaling. Thus, if the base station transmits relevant data during the time that the terminal device is in sleep mode, the base station will not receive an acknowledgment and may attempt to retransmit later. On the other hand, if the base station is searching for a predefined signature sequence when the terminal device is activated and transmitting the relevant data at a time when the terminal device receives the relevant data while successfully receiving the data, The terminal device may be configured to send acknowledgment signaling to the base station to indicate that it is up. Acknowledgment signaling may be transmitted by the terminal device at a predefined time offset with respect to the time at which the packet to be acknowledged was received. This effectively causes the terminal device to transmit acknowledgment signaling that is synchronized to the frame structure (ie, it uses timing for reception of a predefined signature sequence that is itself synchronized to the frame structure by base station initiated scheduling). Can)

  Acknowledgment signaling can be useful in some situations, but in some cases where acknowledgment signaling can be useful in principle, it is not used to reduce two-way communication between the base station and the terminal device There should be. In this situation, the base station could use other methods, for example using periodic retransmissions, to increase the likelihood that the terminal device will successfully receive the data. However, this practice may not be desirable in practice, as the base station may not be able to establish a successful transmission with adequate accuracy.

  According to embodiments of the present invention, a base station may communicate with a terminal device only relatively infrequently, eg, based on the sleep / wakeup cycle of the terminal device. Therefore, the base station can accumulate multiple messages that need to be communicated to the terminal device. Thus, the base station can buffer them (as long as the available payload portions are large enough) to transmit in a single payload portion.

  According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the predefined signature sequence includes the preamble of the asynchronous communication packet 500. However, it will be appreciated that other forms of predefined signature sequences may be used in other examples. For example, the predefined signature sequence may include a packet midamble or postamble. The predefined signature sequence may also include, for example, different forms of pilot signals that span a limited frequency range of the entire duration of the asynchronous transmission or are scattered throughout the asynchronous transmission. A terminal device that identifies such a pilot signal may, for example, decode the associated data based on a predefined / pre-negotiated relationship between the presence and location of the pilot signal and the time / frequency resources surrounding it. Can be configured to.

  Thus, in summary of some embodiments of the present invention, a wireless communication system comprising a base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device is provided, wherein the first terminal device is of a first type. The second terminal device is a second type terminal device different from the first type, and at least one base station synchronizes data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. It is configured to communicate and communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner. Embodiments of the present invention also provide a base station and a second type of terminal device configured to operate in a wireless communication system.

  The device specific data may include an identifier of the second terminal device. In some examples, when the terminal device receives device specific data including an identifier of the terminal device, the terminal device goes through a conventional synchronization procedure to receive additional data, eg, user plane data, in a synchronous manner. Can be configured as follows. That is, the underlying principle of the above-described technique for asynchronously communicating with a certain type of terminal device is that the terminal device can synchronize data to, for example, conventional LTE communication techniques. To enable reception, it can be used to communicate an indication that it should be synchronized with the base station transmission. Thus, in this mode of operation, the terminal device is still synchronized with the network, but only after it has already been asynchronously notified that the terminal device should be synchronized with the network. Thus, by causing the base station to transmit a predefined signature sequence in association with device-specific data that includes a device-specific identifier, the base station effectively causes the terminal device to continue with additional data conventionally. May be instructed to synchronize with the frame structure to be transmitted in a synchronous manner. Thus, in this manner, the terminal device is released from the task of synchronizing with the network each time it is activated only to check for the availability of data available to the terminal device. Instead, the terminal device is first provided with an asynchronous indication that the data is actually waiting for the terminal device, thereby avoiding the terminal device from synchronizing with the base station when there is no data to receive Helped to do.

  Alternatively, as described above with respect to payload data, the device specific data is the user plane that the base station wishes to communicate to the device so that the terminal device can receive user plane data without requiring any synchronization with the base station. Data may be included. This can be optimal when the data to be transmitted to the terminal device is typically only a relatively small amount. If larger amounts of data are expected to be sporadically sent to the device, there is a way to include instructions that inform the terminal device to synchronize the terminal device to receive additional data. Would be preferred.

  In a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of predefined signature sequences may be defined for use to transmit data asynchronously as described above. Each terminal device configured to receive data asynchronously may be configured to search for any of these predefined signature sequences, or any subset thereof.

  It will be understood that various modifications can be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. In particular, although embodiments of the present invention have been described primarily with respect to LTE-based communication systems / mobile radio networks, the present invention may be subject to other problems such as GSM, 3G / UMTS, CDMA2000, etc., where similar problems may arise It will be understood that the present invention can also be applied to a form of network.

  Other individual preferred embodiments of the invention are set out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. It will be understood that the features of the dependent claims may be combined with the features of the independent claims as combinations other than those explicitly recited in each claim.

<References>
[1] Holma H. and Toskala A, “LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radio access”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009.
[2] ETSI TS122 368V10.530 (2011-07) / 3GPP TS22.368version10.5.0Release10)

Claims (55)

Comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device and a second terminal device;
The first terminal device is a first type terminal device, the second terminal device is a second type terminal device, the second type is different from the first type, and the at least One base station is configured to communicate data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The wireless communication system, wherein the at least one base station is configured to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner for a period determined according to a predefined timing schedule . Comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device and a second terminal device;
The first terminal device is a first type terminal device, the second terminal device is a second type terminal device, the second type is different from the first type, and the at least One base station is configured to communicate data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The at least one base station is predefined with data specific to the second terminal device that is narrower than the operating frequency range of the at least one base station and within the operating frequency range of the at least one base station. A wireless communication system configured to communicate in an asynchronous manner using a frequency range. Comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device and a second terminal device;
The first terminal device is a first type terminal device, the second terminal device is a second type terminal device, the second type is different from the first type, and the at least One base station is configured to communicate data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device, configured to communicate asynchronously approach by sending in association with signature sequences to be the pre-defined data,
The at least one base station communicates data in a manner that is specific to another terminal device in an asynchronous manner by transmitting the data specific to the other terminal in association with the predefined signature sequence. A wireless communication system. Comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device and a second terminal device;
The first terminal device is a first type terminal device, the second terminal device is a second type terminal device, the second type is different from the first type, and the at least One base station is configured to communicate data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The at least one base station is configured to transmit a radio frame including a control region for control data of the first type terminal device, and the at least one base station is configured to transmit the first type of terminal device. A wireless communication system configured to communicate with the second terminal device at times and frequencies outside the control region for the terminal device. Comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device and a second terminal device;
The first terminal device is a first type terminal device, the second terminal device is a second type terminal device, the second type is different from the first type, and the at least One base station is configured to communicate data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The data specific to the second terminal device initiates synchronization to a radio frame transmitted by the at least one base station for the second terminal device to receive additional data synchronously A wireless communication system, including instructions for. Comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device and a second terminal device;
The first terminal device is a first type terminal device, the second terminal device is a second type terminal device, the second type is different from the first type, and the at least One base station is configured to communicate data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The wireless communication system, wherein the at least one base station is further configured to communicate data in a synchronous manner with the second terminal device.   The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein the data specific to the second terminal device includes an identification mark of the second terminal device.   The wireless communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the data specific to the second terminal device includes user plane data for the second terminal device.   9. The wireless communication system of claim 8, wherein the data specific to the second terminal device includes an encoding scheme indicator for the user plane data for the second terminal device.   The data specific to the second terminal device includes a time and / or frequency indication that user plane data for the second terminal device is transmitted by the at least one base station. The wireless communication system according to any one of the above.   The at least one base station transmits the data specific to the second terminal device, and the predefined signature sequence includes a preamble portion, a midamble portion, a postamble portion, a pilot portion, and a scattered pilot portion. 4. The wireless communication system of claim 3, configured to transmit in a packet format that includes a portion selected from a group that includes.   The wireless communication system according to claim 11, wherein the packet format further includes a header portion including an identification mark of the second terminal device.   The wireless communication system according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the packet format further includes a payload portion including user plane data of the second terminal device.   14. The wireless communication of claim 13, wherein the packet format further comprises an indication of a resource that is encompassed by the payload portion of the packet format and that is not used to convey the data specific to the second terminal device. system.   The at least one base station communicates data specific to another terminal device in an asynchronous manner by transmitting the data specific to the other terminal in association with another predefined signature sequence The wireless communication system according to claim 3 or any one of claims 11 to 14, configured as described above.   The predefined signature sequence is one of a set of predefined signature sequences used by the at least one base station to asynchronously communicate data with the second type terminal device. The wireless communication system according to claim 3 or any one of claims 11 to 15.   The predefined signature sequence is one of a subset of the set of predefined signature sequences and the base station is used to communicate data asynchronously with the second terminal device The wireless communication system of claim 16, configured to select one of the subsets of the set of predefined signature sequences to be performed.   The second terminal device searches for transmissions from the at least one base station to identify the predefined signature sequence, and the identified transmission of the predefined signature sequence is the second 18. A wireless communication system according to claim 3 or any one of claims 11 to 17, configured to determine whether associated with data specific to a terminal device.   The second terminal device is configured to send an acknowledgment signaling to the at least one base station after successful reception of the data specific to the second terminal device. The wireless communication system according to any one of -18.   20. The wireless communication system according to claim 19, wherein the second terminal device is configured to transmit the acknowledgment signaling after a predefined time after receiving the predefined signature sequence.   21. The wireless communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein the second type terminal device is a machine type communication (MTC) terminal device.   The wireless communication system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wireless communication system is approximately based on a third generation partnership project (3GPP) architecture. A base station for communicating data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, the base station being unique to the first terminal device Configured to communicate data in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The second terminal device the unique to the data, is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The base station is configured to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner for a period determined according to a predefined timing schedule. A base station for communicating data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, the base station being unique to the first terminal device Configured to communicate data in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The second terminal device the unique to the data, is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The base station is an asynchronous method that uses data that is specific to the second terminal device using a predefined frequency range that is narrower than the operating frequency range of the base station and within the operating frequency range of the base station. A base station configured to communicate with. A base station for communicating data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, the base station being unique to the first terminal device Configured to communicate data in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The second terminal device the unique to the data, is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The base station is configured to transmit a radio frame including a control area for control data of the first type terminal device, and the base station is configured to transmit the radio frame for the first type terminal device. A base station configured to communicate with the second terminal device at a time and frequency outside the control region. A base station for communicating data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, the base station being unique to the first terminal device Configured to communicate data in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The second terminal device the unique to the data, is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The data specific to the second terminal device is an indication for the second terminal device to initiate synchronization to a radio frame transmitted by the base station in order to receive additional data synchronously Including base stations. A base station for communicating data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, the base station being unique to the first terminal device Configured to communicate data in a synchronous manner and to communicate data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The second terminal device the unique to the data, is configured to transmit a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The base station is further configured to communicate data in a synchronized manner with the second terminal device.   The base station according to any one of claims 23 to 27, wherein the data specific to the second terminal device includes an identification mark of the second terminal device.   29. The base station according to any one of claims 23 to 28, wherein the data specific to the second terminal device includes user plane data for the second terminal device.   30. The base station of claim 29, wherein the data specific to the second terminal device includes an encoding scheme indicator for the user plane data for the second terminal device. The data specific to the second terminal device includes a time and / or frequency indication at which user plane data for the second terminal device is transmitted by the base station . The base station according to item 1. The base station, the data specific to the second terminal device configured to communicate in an asynchronous approach by transmitting the data according to signature sequence, wherein the predefined claim 23 to 31 The base station according to any one of the above.   The data specific to the second terminal device includes a portion selected from a group in which the predefined signature sequence includes a preamble portion, a midamble portion, a postamble portion, a pilot portion, and a scattered pilot portion. The base station according to claim 32, which is transmitted in a packet format.   The base station according to claim 33, wherein the packet format further includes a header portion including an identification indicator of the second terminal device.   The base station according to claim 33 or 34, wherein the packet format further includes a payload portion including user plane data for the second terminal device.   36. The base station of claim 35, wherein the packet format further comprises an indication of a resource that is encompassed by the payload portion of the packet format and that is not used to convey the data specific to the second terminal device. .   The base station is configured to communicate data in an asynchronous manner by transmitting data specific to another terminal device in association with the data specific to the other terminal in association with the predefined signature sequence. The base station according to any one of claims 32 to 36.   The base station is configured to communicate data specific to another terminal device in an asynchronous manner by transmitting the data specific to the other terminal in association with another predefined signature sequence The base station according to any one of claims 32-36.   The predefined signature sequence is one of a set of predefined signature sequences used by the base station to asynchronously communicate data with the second type terminal device; The base station according to any one of claims 32-38.   The predefined signature sequence is one of a subset of the set of predefined signature sequences, the base station for communicating data asynchronously with the second terminal device; 40. The base station of claim 39, configured to select one of the subsets of the set of predefined signature sequences to be used.   41. The base station of claim 23-40, wherein the base station is configured to receive acknowledgment signaling from the second terminal device indicating successful reception of the data specific to the second terminal device. The base station according to any one of the above.   42. The base station according to claim 41, wherein the base station is configured to receive the acknowledgment signaling at a time that depends on a predefined time after transmission of the predefined signature sequence.   43. The base station according to any one of claims 23 to 42, wherein the second type terminal device is a machine type communication (MTC) terminal device.   44. A base station according to any one of claims 23 to 43, wherein the wireless communication system including the base station is approximately based on a third generation partnership project (3GPP) architecture. A method of operating a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a first type of terminal device; The second terminal device is a second type terminal device, and the second type is different from the first type and communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. Communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The method, wherein the at least one base station communicates data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner for a period determined according to a predefined timing schedule. A method of operating a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a first type of terminal device; The second terminal device is a second type terminal device, and the second type is different from the first type and communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. Communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The at least one base station is predefined with data specific to the second terminal device that is narrower than the operating frequency range of the at least one base station and within the operating frequency range of the at least one base station. A method of communicating in an asynchronous manner using a frequency range. A method of operating a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a first type of terminal device; The second terminal device is a second type terminal device, and the second type is different from the first type and communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. Communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device to communicate in an asynchronous approach by sending in association with signature sequences to be the pre-defined data,
The at least one base station communicates data specific to another terminal device in an asynchronous manner by transmitting the data specific to the other terminal in association with the predefined signature sequence; Method. A method of operating a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a first type of terminal device; The second terminal device is a second type terminal device, and the second type is different from the first type and communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. Communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The at least one base station is configured to transmit a radio frame including a control region for control data of the first type terminal device, and the at least one base station is configured to transmit the first type of terminal device. A method of communicating with the second terminal device at times and frequencies outside the control region for the terminal device. A method of operating a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a first type of terminal device; The second terminal device is a second type terminal device, and the second type is different from the first type and communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. Communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The data specific to the second terminal device initiates synchronization to a radio frame transmitted by the at least one base station for the second terminal device to receive additional data synchronously A method, including instructions for. A method of operating a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a first type of terminal device; The second terminal device is a second type terminal device, and the second type is different from the first type and communicates data specific to the first terminal device in a synchronous manner. Communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
Wherein the at least one base station, the data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The method, wherein the at least one base station communicates data in a synchronous manner with the second terminal device. A method of operating a base station of a wireless communication system to communicate data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, comprising: Communicating data specific to one terminal device in a synchronous manner; communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
A method in which the base station communicates data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner for a period determined according to a predefined timing schedule. A method of operating a base station of a wireless communication system to communicate data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, comprising: Communicating data specific to one terminal device in a synchronous manner; communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The base station is an asynchronous method that uses data that is specific to the second terminal device using a predefined frequency range that is narrower than the operating frequency range of the base station and within the operating frequency range of the base station. How to communicate with. A method of operating a base station of a wireless communication system to communicate data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, comprising: Communicating data specific to one terminal device in a synchronous manner; communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The base station is configured to transmit a radio frame including a control area for control data of the first type terminal device, and the base station is configured to transmit the radio frame for the first type terminal device. A method of communicating with the second terminal device at times and frequencies outside the control region. A method of operating a base station of a wireless communication system to communicate data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, comprising: Communicating data specific to one terminal device in a synchronous manner; communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The data specific to the second terminal device is an indication for the second terminal device to initiate synchronization to a radio frame transmitted by the base station in order to receive additional data synchronously Including a method. A method of operating a base station of a wireless communication system to communicate data with a first terminal device of a first type and a second terminal device of a second type different from the first type, comprising: Communicating data specific to one terminal device in a synchronous manner; communicating data specific to the second terminal device in an asynchronous manner;
The data specific to the second terminal device, comprising: a transmitting a packet format that includes a signature sequence that is pre Me defined, a,
The packet format further includes an indication of resources used to convey the data specific to the first terminal device encompassed by the packet format;
The method, wherein the base station communicates data in a synchronous manner with the second terminal device.

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